The Man

Name: The Man
Author: Stoker, Bram

Stoker, Bram

England -- Fiction; Gothic fiction

'Not that I know of.  I have never heard of such a case.  As a rule
people struck blind by lightning, which is the most common cause,
sometimes remember with extraordinary accuracy the last thing they have
seen.  Just as though it were photographed on the retina!'

'Thank you!  Is such usually the recurrence of any old dream or anything
they have much thought of?'

'Not that I know of.  It would be unusual!'  Harold waited a long time
before he spoke again.  When he did so it was in a different voice; a
constrained voice.  The Doctor, accustomed to take enlightenment from
trivial details, noted it:

'Now tell me, Mr. Hilton, something about what has happened.  Where am
I?'

'In Lannoy Castle.'

'Where is it?'

'In Angleshire!'

'Who does it belong to?'

'Lady de Lannoy.  The Countess de Lannoy; they tell me she is a Countess
in her own right.'

'It is very good of her to have me here.  Is she an old lady?'

'No!  A young one.  Young and very beautiful.'  After a pause before his
query:

'What's she like?  Describe her to me!'

'She is young, a little over twenty.  Tall and of a very fine figure.  She
has eyes like black diamonds, and hair like a flame!'  For a long time
Harold remained still.  Then he said:

'Tell me all you know or have learned of this whole affair.  How was I
rescued, and by whom?'  So the Doctor proceeded to give him every detail
he knew of.  When he was quite through, the other again lay still for a
long time.  The silence was broken by a gentle tap at the door.  The
Doctor lit a candle.  He turned the key softly, so that no one would
notice that the door was locked.  Something was said in a low whisper.
Then the door was gently closed, and the Doctor returning said:

'Lady Lannoy wants, if it will not disturb you, to ask how you are.
Ordinarily I should not let anyone see you.  But she is not only your
hostess, but, as I have just told you, it was her ride to the headland,
where she burned the house to give you light, which was the beginning of
your rescue.  Still if you think it better not . . . !'

'I hardly like anybody to see me like this!' said Harold, feebly seeking
an excuse.

'My dear man,' said the other, 'you may be easy in your mind, she won't
see much of you.  You are all bandages and beard.  She'll have to wait a
while before she sees you.'

'Didn't she see me last night?'

'Not she!  Whilst we were trying to restore you she was rushing back to
the Castle to see that all was ready for you, and for the others from the
wreck.'  This vaguely soothed Harold.

If his surmise was correct, and if she had not seen him then, it was well
that he was bandaged now.  He felt that it would not do to refuse to let
her see him; it might look suspicious.  So after pausing a short while he
said in a low voice:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The ManStoker, Bram

General

The Man

Stoker, Bram

England -- Fiction; Gothic fiction

'Not that I know of.  I have never heard of such a case.  As a rule
people struck blind by lightning, which is the most common cause,
sometimes remember with extraordinary accuracy the last thing they have
seen.  Just as though it were photographed on the retina!'

'Thank you!  Is such usually the recurrence of any old dream or anything
they have much thought of?'

'Not that I know of.  It would be unusual!'  Harold waited a long time
before he spoke again.  When he did so it was in a different voice; a
constrained voice.  The Doctor, accustomed to take enlightenment from
trivial details, noted it:

'Now tell me, Mr. Hilton, something about what has happened.  Where am
I?'

'In Lannoy Castle.'

'Where is it?'

'In Angleshire!'

'Who does it belong to?'

'Lady de Lannoy.  The Countess de Lannoy; they tell me she is a Countess
in her own right.'

'It is very good of her to have me here.  Is she an old lady?'

'No!  A young one.  Young and very beautiful.'  After a pause before his
query:

'What's she like?  Describe her to me!'

'She is young, a little over twenty.  Tall and of a very fine figure.  She
has eyes like black diamonds, and hair like a flame!'  For a long time
Harold remained still.  Then he said:

'Tell me all you know or have learned of this whole affair.  How was I
rescued, and by whom?'  So the Doctor proceeded to give him every detail
he knew of.  When he was quite through, the other again lay still for a
long time.  The silence was broken by a gentle tap at the door.  The
Doctor lit a candle.  He turned the key softly, so that no one would
notice that the door was locked.  Something was said in a low whisper.
Then the door was gently closed, and the Doctor returning said:

'Lady Lannoy wants, if it will not disturb you, to ask how you are.
Ordinarily I should not let anyone see you.  But she is not only your
hostess, but, as I have just told you, it was her ride to the headland,
where she burned the house to give you light, which was the beginning of
your rescue.  Still if you think it better not . . . !'

'I hardly like anybody to see me like this!' said Harold, feebly seeking
an excuse.

'My dear man,' said the other, 'you may be easy in your mind, she won't
see much of you.  You are all bandages and beard.  She'll have to wait a
while before she sees you.'

'Didn't she see me last night?'

'Not she!  Whilst we were trying to restore you she was rushing back to
the Castle to see that all was ready for you, and for the others from the
wreck.'  This vaguely soothed Harold.

If his surmise was correct, and if she had not seen him then, it was well
that he was bandaged now.  He felt that it would not do to refuse to let
her see him; it might look suspicious.  So after pausing a short while he
said in a low voice:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Man

The Man

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